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ACLC Executive Director Wes Addington speaking at a First Amendment forum led by FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez in Neon, Kentucky. Left: Tiffany Sturdivant, Executive Director of Appalshop. Right (out of frame): Dee Davis, Executive Director of the Center for Rural Strategies, which coordinated the event. Photo credit: ACLC
Protecting Fundamental Freedoms in the Coalfields
A First Amendment forum in Neon, Kentucky, and what’s at stake for rural communities.
Can you name all five freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment? Most of us can readily list four: freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and religion.
But the fifth?
If you answered the freedom “to petition the government for a redress of grievances,” you’ve remembered a quiet–if wordy–but profoundly important right of free citizens.
If not, you’re in good company. The right to take concerns directly to lawmakers, courts, and federal agencies to seek change is such a deeply held democratic value that we sometimes forget it is enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center Executive Director Wes Addington shared this insight during a First Amendment panel in June, hosted by FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez as part of her tour to highlight basic freedoms under threat by the current administration.
[The right to petition the government] is critical to a functioning democracy. It’s the alternative to clubs, or swords, or guns.
Addington went on to add:
I think what makes America great is that whether you’re a miner with black lung or have a grievance against another individual, against a corporation, or – most importantly – against the government, you have the ability to have it addressed.
While not all branches of government are required to respond to petitions, the courts remain one place where people can be heard and seek justice. Judges have legal authority, Addington said, but that authority depends on citizens refusing to be silent.
The courts don’t have armies. They don’t have the physical power to enforce. That’s left up to us, to constantly demand and reinforce this right.
The Neon, Kentucky panel invited five community leaders and advocates from the region to each speak about one First Amendment freedom, its significance to rural communities, and to the nation at large.
The Right to Petition in Action
At ACLC, we exercise this right ever day on behalf of Appalachian coalfield communities. We advocate for stronger federal black lung protections and fair compensation that honors the dignity of sick miners and their families.
We press for reclamation of abandoned mine lands and hold coal companies accountable when they walk away from their obligations, bringing evidence directly to lawmakers, the courts, and federal agencies to demand enforcement.
When aging infrastructure, stripped mountains, and decades of disinvestment lead to water system disasters – from catastrophic flooding to unsafe, unaffordable drinking water – we partner with communities to identify root problems and shape flood and utility policy solutions.
We also organize residents to weigh in when government agencies ask for public comment on new regulations, ensuring that decisions are informed by the people who live with the consequences.
ACLC Black Lung Organizer Courtney Rhoades and a West Virginia miner in D.C. to protect black lung benefits.
In a moment when First Amendment rights are being tested, using them matters more than ever. ACLC is standing with our partners and the communities we serve to do just that – and we invite you to stand with us.
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